Jamie Chadwick, from Bath, UK, calls herself a “racer”, and the term is loaded with meaning. She is full of competitive spirit, has a performance mindset and loves a challenge. She resents being labelled a woman racing driver. But it’s difficult to escape the fact in such a male-dominated sport. Still, the more records she breaks, the more she furthers the cause for equality and inspires young girls as she makes her way to the top.

An early start

Chadwick began go-karting at the age of 12 and felt immediately at home behind the wheel.

“I came from a couple of other sports and I think that helped me initially, but there were still a lot of things to learn - naturally, when you start - but I kind of enjoyed them. It wasn’t until a lot later that I started thinking it was something I wanted to do. Seriously, I mean. The breakthrough came ten years ago. She shone in 2015, winning British GT 4 in an Aston Martin Vantage (with Ross Gunn, who is at the wheel of the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie). Two victories and several podiums boosted her career from that point.

Andrew Howard of Beechdean Motorsport shared his admiration in The Guardian: "She displayed hunger and the ability to understand how to turn that hunger into something deliverable.You get a lot of people that have hunger and think they are the next Michael Schumacher but she is bright with it. She understands she has to work hard, she listens and she takes the knocks and learns. And she is an out and out racer." The “girl” (she was only 17 at the time) became the first woman to win a championship title. And the youngest ever winner.

That laid the foundation stone for things to come.

Aim high

In 2017 she began her transition towards single-seaters in British F3. Despite a win in her second season, Chadwick didn’t feel her future lay in the series and began considering other avenues. She took part in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring and landed a seat as a Formula E test driver. Then came the second milestone in her career, the W series (W for Women).

“W Series came at the perfect time for me. I remember 2019. I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue the following year. So, it came at the right time, and I spent three years in the championship [and won three titles].And it propelled me until another opportunity in singe-seaters in America, in IndyNXT (the feeder series before Indycar). It was another great chance to get experience at a high level of single-seater racing with different tracks and different challenges. Then full circle back to endurance racing albeit at a much higher level in LMP2.” A versatile driver with all-round experience, Chadwick has solid technical skills and her outgoing nature makes her a good teammate.

First learn, then win

For her first 24 Hours of Le Mans Chadwick shares a car with her regular European Le Mans Series (ELMS) codriver Mathys Jaubert, and three-time winner of the race André Lotterer. It’s rare to see a driver of such calibre switch to LMP2. “[Having André on the team] is huge for us. I ask him everything and anything, whatever comes into my head, whether it’s a stupid question or not. He’s just got that experience, he’s done it before, and he’s also very fast in the car. And he’s a driver who can help us develop an LMP2 car.”

So, what are Chadwick’s impression after Test Day?

“It was honestly really special. The first time I hit the Mulsanne Straight I had this sort of euphoric feeling of ‘this is Le Mans!’ You go through the first sector and it’s one thing, but you hit the Mulsanne and it’s a completely different feeling. But it’s funny how quickly you transition from just being happy to be here to wanting to find performance, to drive as fast as possible and go for a lap time."

Having won the opening two ELMS rounds, Chadwick could set her sights on a hat-trick. But she’s cautious. “This circuit is lovely to drive, but it also can bite if you overdo it too soon. The plan is to keep building until the end of the race on Sunday, hopefully in a good place. As a group we want to be as competitive as possible, and personally for sure you wanna be as fast as you can be. I want to improve, but the main thing is to be there fighting for something on Sunday."

Then what?

Being with Genesis Magma Racing this year could ultimately earn her a seat in the Korean Hypercar (the GMR-001). "I’m going to concentrate on making progress and probably being on the trajectory programme for another year. The ultimate goal is Hypercar.  The class is so competitive. The teams, the manufacturers but the drivers especially. If I go into Hypercar I want to be in a position to be competitive and do this Genesis brand justice. Because it’s not just me, it’s mechanics, engineers, it’s about giving everyone the time to develop and to have the opportunity to learn endurance racing."

This weekend will be Chadwick’s fourth 24-hour race. And she has always finished. She won her class at Silverstone in 2015 and at the 2019 24 Hours of Nürburgring on second attempt. May she sustain her success at Le Mans!

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